Moscow, Russia.- Russia on Monday condemned the new US measures against the hotel sector and ministries, thus reinforcing its half-century-old blockade of Cuba.

With the intensification of pressure on Havana, Washington creates additional obstacles to socio-economic development in Cuba, in the context of its reforms, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On November 15, the United States Department of State extended the list of Cuban organizations included in the sanctions.

With these entities, US citizens and legal institutions are prohibited from carrying out direct financial transactions, the Foreign Ministry denounced.

The restrictions, which affect 26 structures, now consists of 205 Cuban institutions and companies, including various government agencies and ministries, as well as travel agencies, hotels in tourist areas and shopping malls.

With these steps, Washington is moving further away from the overwhelming majority of the international community, which understands better the inconsistency and futility of the economic strangulation against Cuba, the document pointed out.

Russia reiterated its rejection of the US siege in a joint declaration signed recently by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the president of the Councils of State and of Ministers of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel.